Finalist in Devon Life Magazine's Landscape Painter of the Year Competition

Very pleased to hear that I have been selected as one of six finalists in Devon Life Magazine's Landscape Painter of the Year Competition. My painting 'Feel The Heat', an acrylic landscape painting of a Devon landscape was the image selected. You can check out the article in the February issue of the magazine.

How to find the time to paint on even the busiest days - part 8 (final episode)

Final part: In episode 8 of Focus for Five, I continue to block in the clothes, including a stripey shirt and then begin to fill in some of the negative space. The idea behind this painting of a group of people is to paint or draw for just 5 minutes a day, hence "Focus for Five", which allows one to be creative even on a really busy day when life would otherwise get in the way.

How to find time to paint on even the busiest days part 7

In episode 7 of Focus for Five, I add some highlights to the faces of the people and begin to block in the clothes. The idea behind this painting of a group of people is to paint or draw for just 5 minutes a day, hence "Focus for Five", which allows one to be creative even on a really busy day when life would otherwise get in the way.

How find the time to paint on even the busiest days part 6

In episode 6 of Focus for Five, I demonstrate how to mix a flesh tone so that I can begin to define the faces, hands and arms of the pedestrians. The idea behind this painting of a group of people is to paint or draw for just 5 minutes a day, hence "Focus for Five", which allows one to be creative even on a really busy day when life would otherwise get in the way.

How to find time to paint on even the busiest days part 5

I continue using acrylic to block in some more of the buildings in episode 5 of Focus for Five. By blocking over the first layer of paint, you can selectively allow parts of the textured, multi-coloured under-layer to show through e.g. on the people. I find this is a really efficient way to create interesting effects. The idea behind this painting of a group of people is to paint or draw for just 5 minutes a day, hence "Focus for Five", which allows one to be creative even on a really busy day when life would otherwise get in the way.

How to find the time to paint every day part 4

In episode 4 of Focus for Five it's back to the acrylic to add some blue sky and work on the buildings. The idea behind this painting of a group of people is to paint or draw for just 5 minutes a day, hence "Focus for Five", which allows one to be creative even on a really busy day when life would otherwise get in the way.

How to find the time to paint every day - part 3

In episode 3 of Focus for Five, I complete the line work for the picture using watercolour marker. The idea behind this painting (of a group of people) is to paint or draw for just 5 minutes a day, hence "Focus for Five", which allows one to be creative even on a really busy day when life would otherwise get in the way. Check out the video below:

How to find the time to paint every day part 2

In episode 2 of Focus for Five, I continue to explore the technique of painting or drawing for just 5 minutes each day. The idea is to find time for art (or to be creative in some other way) on even the busiest of days. In this episode I use watercolour marker on top of a dried layer of acrylic paint (see episode 1) to begin to draw some people in the picture.

How to find the time to paint every day part 1

With the best will in the world, it can sometimes be difficult to find the time to paint and draw. Sometimes, life just takes over and suddenly weeks have gone by and easing over to the easel just hasn't happened. Over the years, I've found that by allocating a short period of time each day, I've been able to keep things moving along even when life gets hectic. I thought this technique might be helpful to others so here's episode 1 of 'Focus for Five'.

Interview at UK Handmade

A big thank you to Helen White who recently interviewed me for UK Handmade.

Exhibition on now at Exeter Picture House cinema in Exeter

Exhibition on now at Exeter Picture House cinema in Exeter, open daily 1pm to 11pm until Monday July 23rd.

Help Migraine Action and save 15% on fine art prints this weekend!

Visit the Migraine Action Art Exhibition and purchase a fine art print from EasyArt by clicking the "Fine Art Prints" button (note NOT the "Fine Art Prints 2" button for this offer) and you will have:

1) A piece of artwork for your home
2) Raised funds for Migraine Action
3) Saved 15% if you enter the code MDY15.

Here are the T's and C's:

*15% Off ends midnight Mon. 7th May 2012.

Enter Code MDY15 in the offer code box at the checkout to claim.

Discount not applicable to gift vouchers or shipping.

May not be used in conjunction with any other promotion.

Choose your picture here

Migraine Action Art Exhibition Painting of the Day: Time for a Nap

Here's a Friday, end-of-the-week, feeling-tired-appropriate painting of the day "Time for a Nap" from the Migraine Action Art Exhibition.

The Migraine Action Art Exhibition Starts Today!

The Migraine Action Art Exhibition starts today! Check out the show at http://www.mikejory.co.uk

Migraine Action Art Exhibition has been featured in Leisure Painter Magazine

The Migraine Action Art Exhibition has been featured in Leisure Painter Magazine.

Continuing with the new painting

Here are the next few stages of the new painting. Added another layer of paint to the center and right hand cow, the latter has also had its head enlarged from before

The pic below shows some texture added to the sky and grass, more definition on the cows, the right hand bovine head being enlarged a little more and some hills and trees indicated in the background.

In the 3rd photo, the sky has been blended and some clouds added. This was accomplished with interactive acrylic: The paint was applied and kept moist by spraying with water to allow the blue sky to be readily blended. Once fully dry the clouds were painted on and immediately sprayed with water and allowed to run a little to give a wispy effect. All three bulls have had their horns added and become more defined and some splashes of blue have been included on the right hand animal.

First few brush strokes new painting on the way

Following on from the preliminary sketches posted recently, here are the first few brush strokes, laying out the position of the cows in blue acrylic.

Second stage, blocking in the cows, also moved all but the left hand one over to the right a little

And now blocking in the grass and sky

You may notice some iridescence from the canvas in the photos which is due to the canvas being painted with interference acrylic.

Changing Weather Iridescent painting of cows lying down on Dartmoor

Here's the finished painting (as posted last time) viewed under normal lighting conditions. Notice that the sun seems to be shining on the distant hills on the left.

In the next picture (below) the the painting is viewed from a different angle and the distant hills are now duller as if the weather has changed to cloudy conditions. This effect is a direct result of the interference acrylics that were used on the hills.

 The photo below shows the painting under dimmer lighting conditions. Even though the sky and background hills were over-painted with interference blue these particular lighting conditions result in the complementary interference color showing up, in this case (interference blue painted over these particular colors) the result is a coppery / reddish brown. This gives the effect of "sunshine and showers" over the distant hills i.e. it is as if the sun is shining as the rain streams down over the hills (weather conditions commonly seen on Dartmoor the setting of the painting).

 

In the fourth photo shown below, the painting is shown again, but this time in even lower lighting conditions. The sky and distant hills have now taken on a misty, luminous appearance while some of the interference blue is starting to glow thereby illuminating the foreground cow.

 

The picture below shows the effects obtained by viewing the painting in very low lighting conditions. Now the hills are nearly consumed by the luminous blue while parts of the foreground heather are also illuminated giving an eery night-time feel to the image.

Finally here's the painting once again shown under normal lighting conditions. The combination of 3 types of acrylic i.e. conventional under-painting that is then over-painted with alternating layers of interactive and interference acrylics allows subtle, changeable iridescent effects to be produced. These can either be well controlled and quite deliberate (e.g. the sky and distant hills) or more random and left to chance (e.g. the changing color of the cow and heather in the foreground). I plan on experimenting further with this technique in future work.

 

Finished Painting of cows lying down on Dartmoor

Here's a quick photo of the finished painting, I'll post more soon on the iridescent effects due to the use of interference acrylic. In the meantime I need to think of a title, any suggestions welcome!

Step 4 of a new painting of cows lying down on Dartmoor

Here's step 4, just a couple of modifications for today, the distant cow on the right is starting to take shape and more detail has been added to the foreground foliage, plenty of magenta for the heather and cadmium yellow for the gorse flowers.